Polishing Aluminum

I also happen to be doing some buffing. After 25+ years of sitting in a barn and outside under a plastic tarp this is what the aluminum looked like. Too bad I sanded the timing cover before photographing the decay.



This is the rocker cover with one side wire brushed. You can see how deep the decay went.



After wire brushing I hit it with a file.



After rounding it with the file came 40 to 400 grit emery cloth.



This is where I'm at now after 1st buff with a coarse sisal 8" wheel and black compound.



Norton's aluminum castings may not be 100% free of minute defects but I'm sure glad it wasn't a suzuki I'd bought back in 72 and had stashed in the elements all these years, there would have been nothing left to file and buff!

I'm pretty lucky here in the UK, I use the French stuff called Belgom Alu, it gives a good shine and repels water very well making water spot marks easier to deal with a quick going over with an old tea towel every now and then.

BPatten has the right idea to get the factory finish you have to smear (move the top layer of metal.
It takes at least a 1 hp motor three is more like it. 2MM Shirt card board will be the wheel built up to 1" thick in layers. it needs about 15 inch diameter, true up with an angle grinder. Large 4" support washers on each side. No compound really needed. The part will get very hot very fast. You need a practice part and you must have a plan before you start. Not for play it is hard work.You can do more harm than good so get good before you go for it.

exactly why I sent mine out... I wouldn't mind the work just have no experience doing it. Didn't want to mess up

I agree, the HP of the buffer is a must. I can stop my 3/4 hp with the 8" wheel no problem. The rpm of the motor enters the equation too. Speed at the point of contact is the number you need to achieve (and with as much power as you can afford). This work is best done outside to avoid getting the fine effluent all over everything in your shop. I wear a respirator, full face mask and a leather apron. Haven't skinned my bare hands enough yet to wear gloves though.

I wear leather gloves but for the small pieces where the heat can get pretty hot.
Dave

I use cotton gloves, parts do get hot. I change gloves with each compound to keep the parts from being contaminated. Also wipe down the work with a clean cotton rag in between compounds.

A safety face mask is absoutely required. A wise man once said, "Never buff anything you're not willing to be hit in the head with'.

I get my buffs and compounds from these guys:
http://www.swmetal.com/

RennieK I admire your perseverance, but I think i would have scored a set of rocker covers off ebay before going to that extreme. Those were nasty.

maylar said:

RennieK I admire your perseverance, but I think i would have scored a set of rocker covers off ebay before going to that extreme. Those were nasty.

Click to expand...

Truth be told, I don't even need these, I have finned covers to use but this is my 1st batch of polishing and I wanted to see what could be done. I also couldn't bring myself to toss them out and didn't want to store them in that condition so I was between a rock and a hard place. It got me thinking though, if I could reduce the weight of every aluminum part by 30%, how much weight could I knock off? LOL.

I think the only reason I don't use gloves (yet) is because when things get too hot to hold I just switch to another part and let the hot one cool down. I think eventually when I run out of cool parts to grab I'll need some gloves.

I've never been one to shy away from a little hard work, check out my grinder!

Here's what it looked like when I got it (and had to do the bearings) The rough aluminum end caps were painted green too.



....and after a bit of elbow grease



Yes it was a lot of unnecessary work but it's almost fun to use now.

Re: Polishing Aluminum - MAAS metal polish?

I'm an Autosol polish fan but saw an article (ad?) on pg. 12 (don't get distracted by the photo on pg. 11!) of the October edition of Classic Bike for MAAS metal polish. It's an American product. There were great claims for ease of use and long lasting protection from tarnish. Always looking for an easier way to clean and polish metal, I located and purchased a 4 oz. tube of the stuff for $5 at my local Ace Hardware store - French Lavender scented even!. The claim of just wiping it on and off to a brilliant shine didn't materialize, but it did work okay on stuff that had already been buffed. The claim that really was interesting was that for long term protection from tarnishing. Can anyone on the forum who may have used this stuff verify that this product is really better than other products out there for long term protection?

Thanks,

Jim

A local Harley shop sponsored an old bike day and asked for old Brit bikes to come too. I went and it was a real experience walking around in the Harley showroom. Old bike shops were never like this! Anyway I found something I could afford... It was a small jar of metal polish called Pig Snot. It works better than anything I've ever tried. Another handy product that I've even seen in grocery stores is Nevr Dull. It is cotton wadding containing polish. Good for quick jobs or if you can't find a rag. All of these will get your hands black quickly so I wear rubber gloves.

Watch the buffing wheels. They can grab and throw your unobtainable part right across the garage.

Russ

3M Scotchbrite pad with hook and loop for 4 or 10 inch angle grinders can be big time saver on large jobs. They run coarse thru super-fine.

Someone a year ago put me on to mothers aluminum and mag wheel polish. I have always used the wheel ,followed by autosol and kept up with autosol.They said, and it seems true the autosol continues to cut,but the mothers seals the aluminum.I did my fastback alloy tank a year ago and just use the mothers,even up to the transfers and it still looks good.Something you could try when your polishing is finished to your liking.It looks just like autosol from the jar it comes in.
Bruce